


the trouble with tribbles

by brahe



Series: mckirk beyond [6]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Confessions of love, Fluff, M/M, Tribbles, bones is a surly marshmallow, jim is a beam of sarcastic sunshine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 12:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7532503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brahe/pseuds/brahe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Enterprise suddenly stops in the middle of nowhere, space, and Leonard happens to find the reason. He finds a little more than that, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the trouble with tribbles

**Author's Note:**

> mckirkbeyond day 6: five year mission. i thought i'd have some fun and take a little inspo from tos and feature some tribbles. i tried to be funny, so be nice. it got super fluffy at the end btw. i just want them to be happy

The  _Enterprise_  comes stuttering to a halt somewhere outside of the Vega system. The room lurches, its passengers with it, as the ship suddenly drops out of warp.

  
"Sulu, what's wrong with our ship?" Jim asks. The pilot looks confused.

  
"There's nothing wrong up here, sir," he says, facing the screen at his desk. Jim watches his finger dance across the screen. "Whatever the problem is, it must be in engineering."

  
"Well then," Jim says, flipping the switch to comm engineering. "Scotty!"

  
 _"Here, Captain,"_ Scotty's voice comes through, sounding worried. _"_ _I_ _cannae tell what's wrong! Everything was fine nary a moment ago, and none of the sensors are on alert."_

  
"You'll figure it out," Jim tells him. "When you do, let me know."

  
_"Aye, sir."_

  
There's a cacophony of sounds from the other end before Scotty cuts the transmission.

  
"Looks like we're here for a while," Jim says, addressing the bridge. He stands and makes his way towards the door. "Make yourselves comfortable."

 

 

Leonard catches him in the hallway.

  
"Jim!" he exclaims, coming up beside him. "Why the hell are we stopped in the middle of nowhere?"

  
"Wish I had an answer for you, Bones," Jim shrugs.

"I-what? What do you mean, you _don't have answer_?"

  
"I mean, I have no idea why we stopped."

  
"I thought you were supposed to be the Captain of this tin can! God forbid this ship ever run without a hitch."

  
"She's a beautiful lady, Bones," Jim says, laughter in his tone. "Don't insult her."

  
There's some unintelligible grumbling from the doctor beside him. When they come to a stop outside of medbay, Jim pats his arm.

  
"C'mon, Bones," he says. "It'll be fine!"

  
Leonard groans. "Why do you always have to say that?" he shouts as Jim starts to walk away.

  
"It's good luck!" Jim calls back. Leonard shakes his head.

  
"More like a curse," he mutters.

  
He sighs and picks up a clipboard, approaching Christine.

  
"How's inventory?" he asks. She pokes her head out with the straightest face Leonard's ever seen on a being that wasn't Vulcan.

  
"How do you think?" It's deadpan and sarcastic, and startled a laugh out of Leonard. He opens the door further.

  
"Take a break, Christine. I'll take over for a bit."

  
She steps out, looking rather incredulous.

  
"Really? _You're_ going to do inventory?"

  
"Don't sound so surprised," Leonard says, but there's no true heat behind it. "Besides, our wonderful captain has assured me that we'll be here for a while."

  
He hears Christine chuckle. "If you say so, boss," she says. "I'll leave you to it."

 

 

Leonard doesn't particularly enjoy inventory. No one on his staff does, but he can usually get out of it if only for the reason he's the CMO. There's something about the small, dim closet that gives him the creeps.

  
Which is why, when his hand closes around something small, furry, and definitely moving, he _might_ have yelped. In a very dignified way. He's the chief medical officer on Starfleet's flagship. He doesn't _yelp_ _._

  
He brings his hand out from the back of the shelf with his eyes closed. He opens them slowly, squinting at the object in his hand.

  
And then feels sufficiently mortified.

  
It's a goddamn _tribble_ , and he was half afraid for his life. _To hell with space travel,_ he thinks, looking over the fur ball in his hands. It's a sandy brown, not unlike the color of Jim's hair, and it's making a contented noise. Leonard absent-mindedly rubs his thumb in the fur, and the thing vibrates just slightly.

  
Tribbles would be cute, he muses, if they weren't such a pest.

  
 _Wait_.

 

 

Leonard storms onto the bridge, " _James Tiberius Kirk!"_ leaving his mouth like battle cry. Which it might be.

  
Everything falls silent as Jim turns around.

  
"Yes?"

  
Leonard throws the tribble at Jim. "Why was that in my inventory storage?"

  
Jim only catches it on instinct. A part of Leonard wishes it had hit him in the face.

  
"I-what?"

  
"A tribble. It's not dead, Jim."

  
"Well I see that." He still looks confused and Leonard sighs. Sometimes he wants to smack the kid upside the head.

  
" _Tribbles,_ James."

  
"I know what a tribble is, _Leonard_."

  
Jim is half glaring at him, now. Leonard supposes he doesn't like being treated like an infant in front of his bridge crew. He rubs a hand over his face.

  
"I don't understand why this is such a big...oh."

  
Leonard raises his eyebrows.

  
"...crap." It's not very dignified, but Jim thinks it fits. It's very likely that his ship is infested with adorable, irritating furballs. _Not like it isn't already_ , he thinks, laughing to himself as he side-eyes Bones.

  
He comms engineering on a hunch. "Mr. Scott, are there any tribbles down there?"

  
_"Tribbles, sir? I haven't seen any, but I'll keep my eye out."_

  
The bridge is silent for all of two seconds.

  
 _"Jim?"_ Scotty comes through the speaker. _"We found the engine problem."_

  
"Excellent news, Scotty," Jim says with a smile. "I assume we'll be back up and running in a few minutes?"

  
_"Aye, aye, Captain!"_

  
Jim looks from the tribble up to Bones. "Is there anything else you need?"

  
Leonard regards him, brow creased.

  
"Just one thing."

  
He takes the tribble from Jim's hands and sits it on the captain's head, taking a moment to arrange it. He steps back, a laugh threatening to escape.

  
Jim goes cross-eyed trying to look up at it. He turns his chair.

  
"Well, Spock? How do I look?"

  
The genuinely shocked look on the Vulcan's face sends Jim into laughter, and Leonard can't help his own smile. Even with a tribble in his hair, Jim is still the brightest, most beautiful thing Leonard has ever seen.

  
Jim's facing Bones again as he stands, keeping an open hand hovering beside his head in case the tribble falls.

  
"Well, Bones, I can't say I understand your fashion sense, but I think I look rather fetching."

  
The whole bridge is laughing at this point, a bright and happy moment that Jim wants to keep in a bottle. Jim imagines this is what family feels like, this full-to-bursting joy and love.  
Bones catches the soft, fond look in his eyes, and when the ship suddenly jerks into motion again, he catches him, too.

  
The tribble is cradled between Leonard's chest and Jim's head, and the fur gets in Jim's eyes when he tilts his head back to meet Leonard's eyes.

  
The, "I love you," falls out of his mouth as easily as a comment on the weather, and before he has time to panic, Bones picks him upright and spins him around, tribble in one arm and Jim in the other. His eyes are crinkled at the corners when he tells Jim he loves him too, and the tribble vibrates against both their bodies as Bones kisses him, smile half in the way.

**Author's Note:**

> "It's (not) dead, Jim."  
> Sorry, I had to


End file.
